Addressing the politics of location. Strategies in feminist epistemology and their relevance to research undertaken from a feminist perspective
Abstract
In this paper I unfold the conceptual dimensions of the politics of location. Generally speaking I take a locations politics to refer to its effects and consequences for making knowledge claims.
In a first part I outline the concepts psychosocial and epistemological dimensions. Next, I use an essay by the art critic K.
Mercer as an example of how a politics of location can be fruitfully addressed. Endorsing H.
Longinos view that epistemology is practice rather than content, this exploration is motivated by the attempt to make insights of feminist epistemologies practically relevant for research undertaken from a feminist perspective. I argue that if location and positioning are epistemologically formative, then a research practice that attends to the ways that the power relations and emotional investments of the researcher work to structure her knowledge claims, will yield more accountable outcomes.
I conclude by highlighting how the politics of location link to related epistemological concerns, in pa